PM warns of bloodshed in Ukraine crisis

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Supporters of Viktor Yushchenko gather in Kiev's main square to protest against alleged fraud in Ukraine's election, which handed power to Viktor Yanukovich.Photo: AP

Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich said yesterday the
nation's disputed presidential election had pushed it to the brink
of catastrophe and urged his supporters to avoid bloodshed.

"As Prime Minister, I say that today we are on the brink of
catastrophe. There is one step to the edge," Mr Yanukovich,
declared winner of the poll, told a packed hall in the eastern town
of Severodonetsk.

"Do not take any radical steps. I repeat, none . . . When the
first drop of blood is spilled, we will not be able to stop
it."

Talks to end the stand-off in the election were going badly,
outgoing President Leonid Kuchma said, while the country seethed
with street rallies from supporters of both camps.

Mr Kuchma said: "As I understand, the (working group) talks are
going on with considerable difficulty. No one can say what sort of
compromise can be found or whether one will be found at all."

"But I believe . . . that a compromise is very necessary for
Ukraine," he said opening the meeting of the National Security and
Defence Council.

Mr Kuchma also said that opposition challenger Viktor Yushchenko
was not showing "good will" in lifting a blockade by his supporters
of government offices.

He appealed to Mr Yushchenko to honour his pledge for the
national good.

Supporters of Mr Yushchenko rallied anew on the streets of the
capital Kiev while Prime Minister Yanukovich's strongholds in the
east geared up for a show of loyalty.

Mr Yushchenko, addressing supporters in Kiev, cautioned that
talk of "autonomy" in eastern regions loyal to his opponent was
threatening unity.

Passions rose following Saturday's symbolic vote in Parliament,
which noted widespread fraud in a November 21 run-off election,
handing victory to Mr Yanukovich. The chamber declared the vote
invalid.

Parliament has no jurisdiction over the validity of elections,
as Mr Kuchma pointed out on Sunday, but it provided a further boost
for Mr Yushchenko in his bid to overturn Mr Yanukovich's victory.
He says he was cheated of victory by mass fraud.

A Supreme Court hearing on Monday will consider Mr Yushchenko's
complaints of poll irregularities. The court has so far forbidden
publication of the count handing victory to Mr Yanukovich, thus
blocking his inauguration. No date for any new election was
suggested in Parliament.

Mr Yushchenko, 50, has already said he stands for a new vote on
December 12. But Mr Yanukovich, 54 and strongly backed by Russia,
has yet to say whether he is ready for a re-run, as advocated by
the European Union.

The crisis has dramatised a long-standing divide between
Ukraine's nationalist west, supporting Mr Yushchenko, and the
industrial Russian-speaking east, solidly behind the premier.

Mr Yanukovich on Sunday headed for an eastern power base in the
coal mining Donbass region where he was assured a warm welcome from
supporters, some of whom have been calling for moves for autonomy
should his election be overturned.

The Russian-speaking regions of the east provide the economic
muscle of the country.

Mr Yushchenko, speaking in Kiev, said such talk posed a threat
to Ukraine. "Those people, who raise the issue of separatism, will
be held criminally responsible under . . . the Ukrainian
constitution," he declared.

In Severodonetsk, where Mr Yanukovich was due to meet regional
leaders and supporters, Reuters said several thousand supporters
were already in the streets. Many wore the traditional uniforms of
Cossacks, representing the conservative values of old Russia.

In contrast to the orange-dominated street scenes in Kiev,
crowds there waved blue flags and banners and chanted
"Ya-nu-ko-vich!"